In Pit Lanehttp://www.inpitlane.com
Hardcore Motorsport For Over 20 Great YearsSat, 10 Feb 2018 13:14:37 +0000en-AUhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.5http://www.inpitlane.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cropped-512IPLLogo-32x32.jpgIn Pit Lanehttp://www.inpitlane.com
3232Local Lacey Romps Home In Mount Panorama Sedan Supports.http://www.inpitlane.com/2018/02/03/local-lacey-romps-home-in-mount-panorama-sedan-supports/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2018/02/03/local-lacey-romps-home-in-mount-panorama-sedan-supports/#respondSat, 03 Feb 2018 12:37:42 +0000http://www.inpitlane.com/?p=7360While all eyes were on the contenders in the 2018 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hours race, the Mountain has also played to a packed support card.

In the Combined Sedans it was a stunning come from behind win to local Sports Sedan driver Steven Lacey who took out the overall honours.
Starting from the rear of the grid in the days first race, Lacey took advantage of a late race safety car to come from behind to take the win in his yellow Camaro over the TA2 cars of American driver Gar Robinson (Dodge Charger) and Queensland driver Russel Wright (Mustang).

Lacey won the afternoon race comfortably over Robinson with Victorian driver Rick Newman in an impressive third place in his Falcon. Paul Boschert, who won Friday’s first race saw his day end early when his Corvette hit the wall heading up Mountain Straight in Saturday’s first race.

Wayne Seabrook in his 1976 Porsche 911 won both races in Group S Historic Sports Cars after race one winner Geoff Morgan failed to finish the first race of the morning while in a comfortable lead.

Kim Burke (Radical SR3RSX) won his maiden race race in the Radical Cup with a narrow win over RA Motorsport team mate Nicholas Stavropoulo and race one winner Peter Paddon after the race finished under the safety car.

The BMW Team Schnitzer driver, who shares the #43 BMW M6 GT3 with co-drivers Augusto Farfus and Marco Wittmann, lapped the 6.2km Mount Panorama circuit in a 2:01.934 – the second fastest qualifying time in 12-hour history.

Mostert was the second-last car out in the Pirelli Shootout and held on to pole position, after South African young-gun Kelvin van der Linde fell 0.2 seconds short in his pole attempt.

It was BMWs second 12-Hour pole at the Mountain and one position better than the marque qualified in 2017.

“We were close last year in the Pro-Am entry but it’s pretty special to go to the pointy end and actually get the pole this time with Schnitzer Motorsport and the BMW Motorsport group,” said Mostert.

“For me it’s amazing, the boys gave enough trust in me to qualify the car and we made the car better and better over practice. It’s a lot of hard work to fly a car all the way from Germany to put it on the pole so it’s fantastic.”

Van der Linde’s lap, which was only 0.235s slower than Mostert’s, was good enough to secure the South African Audi gun a front row start for tomorrow’s race, driving the #22 Valvoline Jamec Pem Racing Audi he shares with Garth Tander and Frederich Vervisch.

The sister #74 Audi of Christopher Haase, Christopher Mies and Markus Winkelhock will start from third on the grid, with Haase setting a 2:02.434 early in the session after being the fifth car on track.

The Bend Motorsport Park-supported Lamborghini will start a surprise fourth following a stunning lap from Bathurst 1000 champion, Luke Youlden.

The car had qualified eighth in the pre-shootout session however Youlden’s flyer saw them rocket up the order to secure a second-row starting position.

Scott McLaughlin hauled his YNA Autosport McLaren 650S GT3 to fifth place, while Cameron Waters will start his Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 from sixth – despite not having originally planned to contest the shootout.

Waters’ had qualified 11th however was elevated into the shootout after the Laser Plumbing BMW Team SRM entry was excluded from qualifying due to a technical infringement.

Row four of the grid will be occupied by the #37 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi of Robin Frijns – who set a 2:03.448 – and the #58 YNA Autosport of Shane van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes and Cöme Ledogar in eighth.

Grove Racing’s #4 Porsche GT3 Cup of Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove and Ben Barker have taken out the Class B pole position after Barker lapped the 6.2km circuit in a 2:08.071.

The British driver set the flier early in the session to hand the squad the class pole by just over a second over the #23 Team Carrera Cup Asia Porsche of Paul Tresidder, Chris van der Drift, Andrew Tang and Evan Chen.

JFC – Carter Grange’s #21 car of Daniel Stutterd, Sam Fillmore and Andrew Fawcet picked up third in class with a 2:11.732.

Boat Works Racing took out the pole position in Class C after Aaron Seton set a fast lap early on in the #30 BMW M4 GT4 of Tony Longhurst, Matt Brabham and himself, while Team SRM’s #44 BMW M4 GT4 finished second quickest in the class.

MARC Cars Australia took out the Invitational Class pole position with the #91 MARC II V8 of Keith Kassulke, Rod Salmon and Will Brown with a lap time of 2:06.118.

The race will be broadcast live in its entirety by 7mate around Australia and Sky Sports New Zealand.

A live stream will allow the rest of the world to watch for free via the Bathurst 12 Hour website.

Source: Bathurst 12 Hour Media Release

Photo Credit: Richard Craill

]]>http://www.inpitlane.com/2018/02/03/bmw-on-pole-at-mount-panorama/feed/0Audi Set The Bar In Mountain Shootouthttp://www.inpitlane.com/2018/02/02/audi-set-the-bar-in-mountain-shootout/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2018/02/02/audi-set-the-bar-in-mountain-shootout/#respondFri, 02 Feb 2018 20:22:29 +0000http://www.inpitlane.com/?p=7352It’s the race the Mountain truly deserves. A stunning line up of the finest GT3 cars and drivers alongside the stars of Australia’s popular Supercar series taking on the famous Mount Panorama circuit.

The race itself, and the top ten shootout are exclusively live for Australian viewers this afternoon on 7Mate, but the good news is that the practice and main qualifying session are also being streamed live.

Even better news for some, is that the support events will also feature so you can check out the action of the combined Sedan race featuring an eclectic selection of old V8 Supercars, Sports Sedans and Improved Production Cars.

There’s the Radical Cup and for the first time classic Sports Cars with the Group S Historic Sports Cars of the 60’s & 70’s.

Audi topped the time sheets on Friday after the Schnitzer BMW team set the early pace.

The #22 Valvoline Jamec Pem Racing Audi of Kelvin van der Linde, Frederic Vervisch and Garth Tander were the fastest in the opening day of track action at Mount Panorama with Vervisch setting the quickest time of the day, a 2:03.136s flyer, during the fourth practice session.

“Everything is going good. It’s difficult to see the real pace of everyone and the second thing is you have to have a clear lap as well,” the 31-year-old Belgian driver said.

“Not bad, for a first time for sure better than I expected so it’s good to be in front, but you want to be there on Sunday,”

“The car is really nice, we did some improvements from earlier in the day to now and I’m more comfortable and confident, it’s really cool. Like everybody describes its really nice.”

Vervisch said the No. 22 squad felt like they would be a competitive proposition for the remainder of the weekend.

“I think we have a really strong line-up, we all three are on a really strong pace,” he said.

“Obviously it’s very nice to have Garth as a team mate he knows the track well, we did a track walk yesterday and he really gave us some good indications which obviously helped today.

“We will see, we still have to decide who will do it [Qualifying], one of us three can do it and obviously we want to keep the car on track, I think that’s the main thing.

“For sure top ten would be nice, that’s out aim and its always better to start at the front than the rear.”

The BMW team Schnitzer M6GT3 of Chaz Mostert / Marco Wittman and Augusto Farfus was second fastest overall, just 0.25s behind the leading Audi.

All three of the BMW drivers lapped towards the front of the time sheets during their respective times behind the wheel today.

Returning to Mount Panorama for the first time since Touring Car racing in the 1980s, the famous Schnitzer squad impressed from the outset with Farfus storming to the top of the times during his first ever run at Mount Panorama.

Completing a good day for the Jamec-Pem Audi squad, the sister Audi R8 was third fastest overall today with former winner Christoper Mies, Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock splitting the driving duties.

The day was dominated by Audi and BMW with the two brands filling the top five positions in the final session.

Outside of the searing lap times, the biggest story was perhaps the arrival of the Bentley Team M-Sport Continental GT3s t Mount Panorama.

After lengthy shipping delays, the five containers worth of freight – including pit lane equipment for AMG outfit Strakka Racing – was unloaded in Melbourne on Thursday afternoon and trucked the 10 hours to Bathurst.

They arrived at 3:00am Friday morning, with the team on hand to prepare the cars and get them on track for the first practice session just after 8:30am.

Remarkably, the cars lapped on the edge of the top-10 in the later practice sessions, despite the rushed preparation.

Saturday action will include a fifth and final practice session prior to qualifying with the Pirelli Top-10 Shootout, which will be broadcast live on 7mate around Australia. International viewers can watch the shootout and the main race on Sunday via the Bathurst 12 Hour website with commentary from the team at Radio Show limited John Hindhaugh, Johnny Palmer and Shea Adam alongside local commentator Richard Craill.

Source: With Bathurst 12 Hour Media Release.Photo @Richard Craill.

]]>http://www.inpitlane.com/2018/02/02/audi-set-the-bar-in-mountain-shootout/feed/0Impressive Provisional Line Up For Bathurst 2018http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/12/15/impressive-provisional-line-up-for-bathurst-2018/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/12/15/impressive-provisional-line-up-for-bathurst-2018/#respondFri, 15 Dec 2017 00:59:18 +0000http://www.inpitlane.com/?p=7287The ongoing rise of the Bathurst 12 Hours into one of the World’s classic races continues with an impressive line up of 60 cars announced in the provisional entry list. Thirteen different brands across four classes will tackle the February 2-4 event as entries officially close at 5:00pm Today (Friday 15 December).
It’s an impressive line up in the fight for outright honours with 31 GT3 cars in class A featuring some of the World’s best Sportcar drivers taking on some of Australasia’s top Supercar stars.
“We are very pleased with the entry list and the depth of competition in every class,” Event Director John Casey said.
“The spread between outright and BRM Chronographes Pro/Am contenders in class A is pleasing and will see fantastic competition for both trophies within the GT3 class.
“Entries remain open for a day and we are expecting a few high-profile additions to the current list before the final grid is settled.”
Audi are well represented with 10 examples of the Audi R8 with the local and New Zealand entries bolstered by the addition of high profile international outfit, WRT.
The Belgium-based team has been one of the most successful teams in GT3 racing, winning the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro Cup in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015, and the Sprint Cup team’s title every year since its inception in 2013.
The team will run two high profile entries with driving combinations to be announced in due course.
Bentley Motorsport will return to give the current Bentley Continental GT3 its final fling before the new 2018 model is launched later in the year.
The British brand has been on the podium the last two years and will aim to farewell the original Continental with a Bathurst victory next February.
Three BMW M6 GT3s will compete – including a two-car outfit from BMW team SRM and a single-car entry from the iconic BMW team Schnitzer from Germany.
New Zealand team Trass Family Motorsport will represent Ferrari with their 458 GT3, while three Lamborghini’s will tackle the mountain – including two Gallardo’s and a Huracan GT3 for Trofeo Motorsport.
McLaren will look to return to the top of the podium following their 2016 success with three entries, while Mercedes AMG will be stronger again with no less than six of the thundering AMG GT3s represented.
Newcomers Strakka Racing will make their first trip to Bathurst to kick off their Intercontinental GT Challenge campaign with two cars, while Scott Taylor Motorsport and Mark Griffith will enter their locally-based entries. Porsche has a host of international representation, including Manthey Racing from Germany and the US-based entries from Black Swan and Competition Motorsport.
While several key driver combinations are yet to be confirmed, those announced already include Supercars stars Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth and international talent like Timo Glock and Jeroen Bleekemolen.
Missing from the entry list at this stage is an entry from Nissan, after returning to the race last year there is currently no entry for the 2015 winners.
Five Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Cars will battle it out for Class B honours, while class C – for GT4 cars – has seen enormous growth this year.
Thirteen cars make it the biggest ever representation of GT4 cars in the Southern Hemisphere with the field evenly spread across the key brands competing in the class.
Four of the brand-new BMW M4 GT4s are entered – including one from the USA – while the same number of Ginetta’s will contest the race representing the local arm of the brand.
Two KTM X-Bows and three Porsche Cayman GT4s round out what is a highly anticipated class battle.
The Invitational class is now 11-strong and includes three of the new MARC II racers alongside six of the existing cars, plus the two Daytona Sportscars entries featuring the return of the popular Daytona Coupe.
The popularity of the race with fans shows no sign of slowing either with camping spots already at a premium, local accommodation already booked out and ticket sales well up on last year’s record crowd.
Fans are advised to book now for remaining camping places at www.bathurst12hour.com.au

With Bathurst 12 Hour Media Release

]]>http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/12/15/impressive-provisional-line-up-for-bathurst-2018/feed/0Bathurst 12 Hours Remains Live & Freehttp://www.inpitlane.com/2017/12/14/bathurst-12-hours-remains-live-free/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/12/14/bathurst-12-hours-remains-live-free/#respondThu, 14 Dec 2017 02:41:48 +0000http://www.inpitlane.com/?p=7284Good news for Australian motorsport fans with the welcome news that the Bathurst 12 Hour race will continue to be seen on free to air TV in 2018.

7mate will again show the entirety of the race on Sunday, February 4 with coverage commencing at 5:30am AEDT, ahead of the traditional race start time of 5:45am.

Live coverage of the Pirelli Top-10 Shootout on Saturday, also on 7Mate, will ensure 13.5 hours of live coverage will be aired across the weekend.

A one-hour highlights program will also air on both Channel 7 and 7mate in the weeks following the race.

“Seven has a deep connection with Mount Panorama over more than five decades,” said Saul Shtein, Head of Sport for Seven.

“We look forward to being the network of the 12 Hour. Great drivers and great cars on one of the world’s best racing circuits. Who could ask for anything else.”

Fans will also be able to follow the race via their computer or mobile device in Australia thanks to the 7Live app or the official event website, while International audiences can follow the race online via a live stream hosted on the official event website, www.bathurst12hour.com.au.

Mark Beretta will host the coverage and will again cover the race from pit lane.

He will be joined in pit lane by Chad Neylon and Radio Le Mans regular Shea Adam while 7 News Journalist Alex Hart will also join the team for the first time to add more coverage from the paddock.

The voice of global sports car racing, John Hindhaugh, Daily Sportscar editor Graham Goodwin and Richard Craill will be on commentary.

The 2017 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour was viewed by an average audience of more than 400,000 on Sunday, with the telecast reaching an audience of 1.2 million people.

There were more than 800,000 streams of the race and Pirelli Top-10 shootout via the event website and streaming partners.

“We are very happy to continue the longstanding relationship between the Seven Network and endurance motor racing at Mount Panorama,” Event Director John Casey said.

“Seven has been a vital partner in the growth of the race in recent years and in 2018 their viewers will see possibly the best Bathurst 12 Hour grid yet.

“We continue to invest in the coverage to make it better than ever before. This year we will be adding a fourth member to the pit lane team to tell more of the amazing stories that occur throughout the race.”

The 2018 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour will be held on 2-4 February.

With Bathurst 12 Hours Media Release

]]>http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/12/14/bathurst-12-hours-remains-live-free/feed/0Aussie Motorsport Fans Suffer From Murdoch’s Temper Tantrumhttp://www.inpitlane.com/2017/09/30/aussie-motorsport-fans-suffer-from-murdochs-temper-tantrum/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/09/30/aussie-motorsport-fans-suffer-from-murdochs-temper-tantrum/#commentsSat, 30 Sep 2017 13:12:13 +0000http://www.inpitlane.com/?p=7194Australian Motorsport fans are the victims as a petulant News Limited continues to throw a gigantic temper tantrum over their long held plan to waltz into the Australian free to air television market.
Effective immediately, all further Formula One races will screen exclusively on Murdoch’s monopoly cable TV network Foxtel.
This means that despite being advertised for this Sunday evening, the Malaysian Grand Prix will not be shown on the TEN network’s ONE digital channel.
In a thinly disguised puff piece in Murdoch’s flagship Australian national newspaper “The Australian” Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany said “Fox Sports will ensure Formula 1 fans in Australia can continue to watch every practice, qualifying and race live,”
“And from next season, we will be able to deliver even better coverage with no ad-breaks during racing for every race on the F1 calendar including the Australian Grand Prix.
“Fox Sports will be the only place to see the Malaysia Grand Prix live.”
The problem at this stage is that the Australian Grand Prix for both cars and bikes is currently on the Governments anti-siphoning list, a move designed to try and ensure sporting events of National significance would continue to be available to all Australian’s.
However recent changes to the Government’s media regulations, pushed through with the support of South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, will see certain unspecified events removed from the list entirely, generally based on whether the event involves an Australian National team or not.
Although Dan Ricciardo currently competes within F1, Foxtel will argue that he represents himself and indeed an Austrian Soft Drink manufacturer and that F1 is an individual sport not one based on competition between nations.
Of more local interest may be the situation regarding Australian Supercar coverage.
Currently only the Bathurst 1000 is on the anti-siphoning list but several major taxpayer funded events are believed to contain clauses insisting that they be shown on free to air television.
These are said to include Adelaide, Townsville, The Gold Coast, Sandown and the new event at Newcastle.
Certainly for Supercars Australia the loss of FTA TV would have a huge effect on their bottom line and would almost certainly cost teams heavily in loss of sponsors and brand exposure.
With the contining rise of internet based content such as Netflix and YouTube, Foxtel is struggling to push it’s national reach over the 30% line. Indeed in the six months to December 2016, Foxtel lost 100,000 subscribers and saw it’s operating profit fall to Nil, (Although how much of that was via various creative accounting plans to avoid paying tax is anybody’s guess)
With a current national reach of just under three million, sponsors will, at the very least have to look at the amount of money they invest in the sport, if not leave it all together.
The loss of free to air TV would have to be a major influence in Nissan’s upcoming decision regarding it’s future in the sport, while manufacturers currently being courted by Supercars Australia may well be less inclined to get involved with such a limited audience.
Despite the positive spin put on them buy Supercars CEO Jame Warburton, viewer numbers for Supercar live events have fallen dramatically since the days of Channel Seven.
The most recent Sandown 500 attracted a peak audience of 172’000 on Foxtel finishing the day second in the ratings to a weekly Golf show.
The ratings on TEN were more substantial with a peak viewing audience of 291,000 making it the most watched sporting telecast of the day.
But even those figures pale into insignificance when compared with the sort of figures seen back in the days of Seven’s much maligned coverage.
Should TEN and Foxtel have a total fallout, the question is who, if anybody would be willing to pay big dollars for TV rights for Supercars and F1?
Foxtel are in a very vulnerable position here. Live sport is the networks principle driver of subscriptions, indeed a look at the rating clearly show that for most days, programs on Fox Sports dominate the top 20 ratings list.
Dedicated AFL and, now NRL channels remain the most popular, and the creation of the NRL channel is almost wholly credited at arresting the plummeting subscriber numbers in the prime Sydney market.
This of course gives sporting rights owners enormous power, Foxtel needs their content to survive, in fact one tactic that could be used to pretty much shut the service down would be for the three FTA networks to get together and launch a joint bid for major sporting rights. Foxtel would have no choice but to try and beat them and having to pay a ridiculous rights fee in the process.
This is similar to the position the the Nine Network finds itself in over Cricket rights, they have paid so much for them that they now lose money every match they screen.
With the huge success of “The Big Bash” T20 competition that situation is not going to change as Foxtel move heaven and earth to win those rights away from current holder TEN.
It is for this reason that a Foxtel buyout of Supercars from Archer Capital makes perfect sense.
Why get into a semi-regular bidding war with other networks when you can buy the entire competition and schedule it totally to suit your needs.
Either way the main losers in all of this is of course, us. The average motorsport fan who now finds themselves forced to pay ridiculously high subscription costs to continue watching the events they love.
Of course there are many Foxtel/Murdoch apologists out there, more than happy to pay the price.
The coverage of both F1 and Supercars are excellent on the Fox Sports coverage, and with bonuses like Moto GP, Local and International Drag Racing, and the WEC and Le Mans, there’s plenty more than willing to sell their soul to Murdoch.
But for those not as financially comfortable, pensioners, average workers who has seen their pay fall in real terms over the past 4 years, perhaps there are better uses for $60 per month.
Our options are limited. Illegal and unreliable Internet streams, or better still transfer our allegiances to those series that have embraced open and free live-streaming, series like Blancpain GT, Creventic, ELMS and IMSA.
The problem there of course is who pays for it? What some people still don’t seem to understand is that commercial television’s principle business is not making television shows, the shows aren’t the product, you, the viewer are the product.
The business of commercial TV is to sell you and your attention and focus to advertisers, and it just so happens that sport is one hell of a way to do it.
But online things are different. The viewership is fragmented and instead of being one channel among a dozen or so you are now one among over 1 million.
The cost of production doesn’t change, just the distribution. Online provides a far more flexible and far reaching program delivery system and it would appear as if major sports like F1 and Supercars will soon more fully embrace it.
But when it comes it will come at a price, and if you can’t or won’t pay that price, perhaps it may be time to look at some alternatives to a Sunday afternoon spent in front of the telly watching motorsport.
I’m told gardening is quite a lot of fun, might try it myself one day.

]]>http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/09/30/aussie-motorsport-fans-suffer-from-murdochs-temper-tantrum/feed/1WIN TICKETS TO THE SHANNONS NATIONALS AT PHILLIP ISLANDhttp://www.inpitlane.com/2017/09/05/win-tickets-to-the-shannons-nationals-at-phillip-island/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/09/05/win-tickets-to-the-shannons-nationals-at-phillip-island/#respondTue, 05 Sep 2017 05:39:22 +0000http://www.inpitlane.com/?p=7151Win a double pass to the Shannons National at Phillip Island this weekend.
Just head to our Jotform page and enter the details.
Prize does not include transport or accommodation.

https://form.jotform.co/52998328979886

]]>http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/09/05/win-tickets-to-the-shannons-nationals-at-phillip-island/feed/0New Le Mans Spotters Guide Out Nowhttp://www.inpitlane.com/2017/06/10/new-le-mans-spotters-guide-out-now/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/06/10/new-le-mans-spotters-guide-out-now/#respondSat, 10 Jun 2017 00:35:01 +0000http://www.inpitlane.com/?p=7017It’s become as much a part of a Le Mans race weekend as Crepes du Grand Marnier and Loire Valley Rose.
It’s Andy Blackmore’s annual Le Mans Spotters Guide.
Used by commentators, fans and teams alike the Spotters Guide contains all the information you need to follow the 2017 Le Man 24 Hours next weekend.
The guide features all the information you need. From Chassis details to driver grading and Pit garage allocation and for 2017, the three main social media addresses for each team, everything is covered making this the one resource to have at your fingertips.
What’s more, Andy makes sure the guide is updated as necessary during the week to reflect any major changes in livery, bodywork and driver details.
Apart from being a great guide, it’s also a pretty nifty piece of artwork and a great memento of the greatest race.
The first draft of the guide is now available but keep going back for any updates during the week.
The 2017 Spotter Guide has been made possible thanks to the support of Dunlop Motorsport and race fans everywhere thanks them for that support as well as to Andy for his enormous effort.

]]>http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/06/10/new-le-mans-spotters-guide-out-now/feed/0Holden Release Concept Art Of New Commodore Supercarhttp://www.inpitlane.com/2017/06/09/holden-release-concept-art-of-new-commodore-supercar/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/06/09/holden-release-concept-art-of-new-commodore-supercar/#respondFri, 09 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000http://www.inpitlane.com/?p=7014V8 Engine Survives For One Year Only

So this is it. The official unveiling of the artist’s concept of the 2018 Gen 3 Supercar from Holden.
The new era Commodore will be powered by a new turbocharged V6 currently under development at the General Motors Performance and Racing Center, in Pontiac, Michigan.

Holden’s official factory team, Triple Eight Race Engineering, will seek approval from Supercars to run the new V6-powered caras a wild card entry at selected rounds next season before a full rollout for the 2019 season.

Until then however, existing teams will be able to use the current 5 litre V8 engine for 2017 only. After that the new V6 engine will be available to all Holden teams via a leasing program.

The staggered introduction ensures a greater ease in transition to the new model Commodore bodywork for all Holden teams.

It also allows Holden and Triple Eight Race Engineering to assist Supercars’ technical department with development of its programs ensuring the turbocharged V6 can achieve parity with the existing, naturally aspirated V8s.

Holden’s Executive Director of Marketing, Mark Harland said. “What an incredible-looking race car, it carries on the tradition of Commodores looking awesome on and off the track and ushers in a new era for our brand,”
“I can’t wait to see it out on the track claiming race wins next year.”

The car does look good, but then again have you ever seen an artist’s concept that didn’t?

The move to allow the new car to run the existing V8 is also a very good move and I imagine that at the end of 2018 there may well be some teams and certainly fans that will push both Holden and Supercars Australia to allow that situation to continue.

Either way any new car and technology is good to see, the new V6 should have no trouble at all making the necessary grunt but just how the existing V8 obsessed Supercar fan will take to the new generation car and engine is another matter,

At least we finally have something of interest to talk about in Supercar racing other than a change of paint job.

The question in my mind though and yet to be answered is what will it race against?

Certainly in the short term its main on track rival will be the Ford Falcon, a car that is no longer being built, and the Nissan Altima which Nissan have already said will not be their Gen 3 bodystyle.

Ford still show no official interest in Supercars, although In Pit Lane has been told by one senior Ford marketing staff member that the sport is not off the radar of the company, but was simply being put on the back burner until the new model line was fully established.

Conventional wisdom has it the the Ford Mustang will be that car, with or without Fords approval.

As for Nissan the smart money is on the GT-R although NISMO themselves are saying this might not be the case, indeed there is still no guarantee that the company will even stay in the sport. The Altima program did in it’s job in promoting and establishing the Altima nameplate, but even then the car has hardly set the sales charts on fire.

The saving grace may be the support of Nissan Australia’s current CEO Richard Emery who is very keen to remain in the sport, he may though have some problem convincing head office who may be less than keen to commit funds to develop a new car and engine package for such a small market.

Then of course there’s the possibility of new manufacturers coming on board with KIA and their new Stinger GT, a current favourite to join the series but not until at least 2020.

]]>http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/06/09/holden-release-concept-art-of-new-commodore-supercar/feed/0Random Jumblingshttp://www.inpitlane.com/2017/02/13/random-jumblings/
http://www.inpitlane.com/2017/02/13/random-jumblings/#respondMon, 13 Feb 2017 06:37:57 +0000http://localhost:8888/wordpress/?p=445This weekend the eyes of the motorsport world are fully focused on Daytona for the famous 24 hour race, but this time next week a half a world away, the New South Wales regional city of Bathurst will become the epicentre of the racing world with the annual Bathurst 12 Hour race.

This year’s race will be the biggest ever and the line up of champion drivers in factory supported cars reads like a who’s who of international sportscar racing.

BMW will challenge the famous mountain circuit with an impressive line up of superstars from both their own international line up, as well as some names familiar to fans at Mount Panorama.
Former Bathurst 1000 winners Mark Skiafe, Russel Ingall and Tony Longhurst have joined forces and will be joined by DTM star and ex F1 driver Timo Glock.

Also aboard a BMW will be Chaz Mostert he’ll drive with Australian GT regulars Morgan Haber and Max Twigg.

Supercar series veteren Garth Tander will join a host of factory Audi drivers as part of the two-car JAMEC-PEM racing squad.

Tander will be joined by works Audi drivers Christoper Mies and Christoper Haase are are expected to start as onre of the favourites for the event.

Mies is a two-time Bathurst 12 Hour winner, in 2011 and 2012 with Audi, while Haase also has several 12-hour starts to his credit.

The second JAMEC-PEM car will also be filled with factory Audi talent, with former Formula One driver Markus Winkelhock alongside Frank Stippler and the impressively fast Dutch young driver Robert Frijns.
Audi Sport Customer Racing Australia, run by Melbourne Performance Centre, will run a fleet of Audi’s R8 LMS model in the race.

Lee Holdsworth would join long time Carrera Cup racer Marc Cini and Dean Fiore in the Hallmarc Property group entry.

Nissan Motorsport will return to the mountain with a brand-new Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

Michael Caruso is teamed with popular Japanese driver Katsumasa Chiyo and Alex Buncombe in the 12 Hour, while Todd Kelly will drive the car that finished second last year alongside Jann Mardenborough and 2015 winner Florian Strauss.

Ferrari has only one enterent in the race, but what an entry it is. Ferrari specialist Toni Villander will be joined by 2014 race winner and Australia’s most popular driver Craig Lowndes alongside six time Australian Supercar Champion Jamie Whincup making his Bathurst 12 Hour debut.

Apart from the impressive driving line up, the car will also benefit from some technical assistance from Triple Eight Racing.

Whincup’s entry came as something of a surprise as he had previously shown little interest in taking part in the race.
“I’ve been patient waiting for the right opportunity and feel I’ve found it with the Maranello/Triple Eight combination.

“I’m excited to be teaming up with Craig again after more than six years and also look forward to learning from Toni on how to drive a left-hand drive, high downforce, turbo car fast.” he said.

Defending 12-hour champion Shane van Gisbergen has left the Tekno Racing McLaren team and will join Scott Taylor Motorsport, with Craig Baird and Maro Engel driving in a Mercedes.

Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda, who are normally seen behind the wheel of an Aston Martin in the FIA WEC, have also joined the silver arrow brigade in a Pro-Am class entry.

David Reynolds will be back, but not with Erebus who sadly will not be represented in the race this year.

The Melbourne driver has joined with Mark Griffith and Dominic Storey in their AMG SLS

As revealed on In Pit Lane earlier in 2016, Porsche are making a major push towards a victory on the mountain.

It’s impressive line up of drivers is headed by Le Mans winner Earl Bamber who will have fellow internationals Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor alongside in the Walkinshaw Racing 911 GT-R.

The team will also field the experienced pair of John Martin and Liam Talbot driving with Davashen Padayachee in the GT-Am class.

Aston Martin will be represented by the local Miedecke Stone Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage of George Miedecke, Ash Walsh and Tony Bates.

Mount Panorama specialist Dean Canto returns to the 12 hour, this time in a Lamborghini Huracan for the Melbourne based Trofeo Motorsport team.

Trofeo, who had raced both Corvettes and a Ferrari in the past will be Lamborghini’s main hope in the race, with the marque having no representation in the Pro class. Kiwi Racing will also be running a Lamborghini in the GT3 Am class.

And that list is by no means exhaustive, with the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour boasting one of the most impressive driver line ups ever seen in Australia.

The race will start next Sunday at 5:45 with live and fre to air coverage right across Australia on 7Mate.

International viewers can watch the live stream via the event’s website with audio coverage as usual by the team at Radio Le Mans.